Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) uses 32-bit addresses. As a result, the address space for IPv4 is limited to approximately 4.3 billion IP addresses. These 4.3 billion IP addresses are generally available to the public (also referred to as public IP addresses). However, with the proliferation of computing devices throughout the world, the number of available public IP addresses through IPv4 is insufficient. For example, there are currently 7.125 billion people in the world, and a significant portion of these people have multiple computing devices (e.g., personal and work laptops, personal and work desktops, mobile devices, tablets), all of which need to use public IP addresses to send and receive data over the Internet.
One technical solution for addressing the insufficient number of public IP addresses is a network address translation (NAT) device. A NAT device maps multiple private IP addresses (also referred to as “local IP addresses”) to one or more public IP addresses. More specifically, NAT is a method of translating one IP address space into another by modifying network address information in IP packet headers while they are in transit across a traffic routing device. As a result, a single public IP address can represent multiple private IP addresses such as for all computing devices within an organization, company, or on a private network.
However, NAT devices have shortcomings. NAT devices are expensive. A single NAT device can cost $200,000 USD or more, so a NAT device and a backup NAT device together would cost $400,000 USD or more. Furthermore, NAT devices can fail and cause a communication breakdown. The need exists for systems and methods that overcome the above problems, as well as provide additional benefits. Other limitations of existing or prior systems will become apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following Detailed Description.